88 



THE SEA. 



command of Sir John Franklin. He had done so under an assumed name, his true name 

 being William North. Describing briefly the events preceding Franklin's death, he goes 

 on to say that they abandoned the ships in April, 1818, Captain Crozier hoping to reach 

 Hudson's Bay (Territory is meant, presumably), their provisions being exhausted. All 

 but himself perished, and he lay on the snow insensible till rescued by some Esquimaux, 

 with whom he lived for several years. From observations he became convinced there was 

 a habitable land further north. The birds and animals often came in large numbers iVmi 



CAPE DESOLATION. 



that direction, and then suddenly returned. The Indians all had a superstitious fear of 

 going far north, and none who did so were ever seen again. It was supposed that they 

 perished of cold and starvation; but more than one old Esquimaux told him that they 

 were killed by the inhabitants beyond the mountains. 



"As I could never get back to England/' says he, "even if I had desired, I 

 concluded to push to the north, and reach the North Pole or perish in the attempt." No 

 one would go with him, so he went alone, taking two dogs and a boat which he had rigged 

 on runners. The Indians said that he would never return. 



" This was on the Greenland shore, as far north as the ice mountains, known to 

 navigators as the glaciers. [" Ice rivers " would be the more appropriate term ; but the 

 story is evidently written by a half-educated man.] It was the early spring of I860, 

 according to my reckoning; the season was the most favourable I had ever seen, and in 



